Islam teaches us lessons of modesty. There is no room for a woman to display her beauty the way she is doing in the modern age. Allah’s word, Prophet’s (SAAS) sayings strictly warn us of a punishment in case we transgress the limits of decency, Syeda Aasiyah Andrabi writes
Purpose of Clothing:

“Ye children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment upon you to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornment to you, but the raiment of piety-that is the best. Such are among the signs of Allah, that they may receive admonition!” (7:26)

Islam has denounced nudity and specified private parts which males and females have to cover. As regards to dress the conduct of the so-called civilized nations is not any different from that of the Arabs of the pre-Quranic period. It suggested the virtual return of western women to a life bereft of decency. The Arabs would freely strip themselves naked before each other. They were uncivilized and uncultured, but what is the problem with ‘civilized west’ where nude protests and demonstration have become everyday routine? Textile factories are producing million of meter every day but ‘poor’ western woman gets only two pieces of six inch cloth to wear. Even while having bath and attending to the call of nature they did not bother to have a covering. So much so that they performed, the ceremony of moving round the Ka’ba in a naked state, and considered it as an essential part of the worship, more than that the women would perform this ceremony in perfect nakedness. The dress would leave a part of their breasts, arms, back and shins uncovered. Beaches, tourists sports, women sports and movie industries are ahead of pre-Quranic Arabs and porn industry is flourishing like anything.
Islam reveals the primary purpose of clothing that is covering the body and, to serve as protection and decoration is of secondary purpose. According to above mentioned words, covering of the body has been made obligatory for every male and female. The beloved prophet Muhammad Rasul Allah (SAAS) gave strict orders to the effect that no person should appear naked before any other person.

“No man should look at a naked man and no woman should look at a naked women “ (Muslim)
“‘Beware never strip yourself of clothes for with you is the one who never leaves you alone, except at the time when, you attend to the call of nature or have intercourse “. (Al-Tirmidi)

Obligatory clothing for males:
Islam has also specified those parts of the body which the males and females must cover. Such a parts as is obligatory to cover is termed as Satr by the Shariah.
For the male it is:

“The male should cover that part of his body which is between the pit of the stomach and the Knee.” (Al-Mabsut)

Obligatory clothing for females:
The bounds of obligatory clothing for the females are wider they have been enjoined to cover whole body except the face and the hands from all people including father, brother and all male relatives, and excluding none but the husband.

Muhammad Rasul Allah (SAAS) said:

“It is not lawful for any women who believes in Allah and the last Day that she should uncover her hand more than this - and then he placed hand on his wrist joint” (Ibn Jarir)

“When a women attains maturity no part of her body should remain uncovered except her face and the hand up to the wrist joint” (Abu Dawud)

Hadrat Asma, Sister-in-law of Muhammad Rasul Allah (SAAS) came before him (SAAS) in a thin dress (transparent clothes which majority of women are wearing today) that showed her body (declivity and acclivity of her body). Muhammad Rasul Allah (SAAS) turns his eyes away and said, “O Asma, when a women attains maturity it is not lawful that any part of her body been seen except this and this and then he pointed to his face and the palms of his hands.”

Hafsah, daughter of Abd al Rahman, came before Hadrat Ayisha, and she was wearing a thin wrapper (Dupatta) over her head and shoulders. Hadrat Ayisha tore it up to pieces and put a thick wrapper over her. (Muwwatta).

Rasul Allah (SAAS) said: “Allah has cursed those women who wear clothes and still remain naked” (they wear thin and tight clothes which neither cover their bodies as required according to Shariah nor hide ups and downs of their bodies).
Hadrat Umar says: “Do not clothe your women in such clothes as are tight fitting and reveal all the outlines of the body” (Al-Mubsut)

It is the responsibility of men not to allow their women to go out without absolute veil. It is also unlawful for cloth merchants to sell thin clothes to women and similarly stitching of thin and tight clothes for women is unlawful for tailors.
All these sayings of Muhammad Rasul Allah (SAAS) and traditions show that except for the face and hands the whole female body is included in Satr which a women must conceal in her house even from the nearest relatives. She can not expose her Satr (it is not correct that Satr means chest and private parts only. As we came to know from the above mentioned tradition, women from head to toe is Satr including her hair, neck throat, chest, arm and foot except face and hands) even before her father or nephew except her husband and it is unlawful to wear a dress that shows her Satr and reveals ups and downs of her body Allah Almighty Says:

“Say thou to the faithful that they shall lower their sights and guard their private parts: that is cleaner for them. Verily Allah is aware of that they perform” (24:30)

And say to the believing women that they shall lower their sight and guard their private parts and shall not disclose their adornment except what appears of it; And they shall draw their scarves over their bosoms, and shall not disclose their adornments save to their husbands or their fathers or their husband’s fathers or their sons or their sister’s sons or their women or what their right hands own or male followers wanting in sex desire or children not acquainted with the privy parts of women. And shall not strike their feet so that there be known what they hide of their adornment. And turn penitently to Allah you all, O you faithful; happily you may thrive. (24:31)

“And stay in your houses. And do not display yourself as did the pagans of old. And establish the Salah and pay Zakah and obey Allah and His Rasul. Allah only desires to remove uncleanliness from you, and to purify you with a through purification of people of the household of Muhammad.” (33:33)

“O Nabiyy (SAAS) say thou to thy wives and thy daughters and women of the believers that they should led down upon them their wrapping garments. That would be more likely to distinguish them, so that they will not be affronted. And Allah is every forgiving merciful.” (33:59)

The need for modesty is the same in both men and women. But on account of the differentiation of the sexes in nature, temperaments, and social life, a greater amount of privacy is required for women then for men, especially in the matter of dress and the uncovering of the bosom. Zinat mean both natural beauty and artificial ornaments both are implied here, but chiefly the former. A woman is asked not to make a display of her figure except to the relatives mentioned in the verse. Zinat is anything with which one is adorned, bedecked, beautified or graced. Thus public exhibition is denied and interdicted of every thing that the modern woman holds so dear-her thin cloths, artificial hair, lipstick, face powder, bathing dress and semi-nude costume. Women is at liberty to display her natural as well as artificial beauty but only in her bedroom before her husband.
Above mentioned verses prescribed a law of inward purity of the strictest kind and a piece of very sound advise to those who tempt. This injunction puts a full stop to lusting with the eyes, and the maxims, if acted upon, does and must serve as the most powerful agency for the prevention and control of sexual crimes. Islam is not at all enamored of free and unrestricted intermingling of the genders and of the mixed gatherings at bridge tables and supper tables, and in schools, colleges, Universities, coaching centres, clubs, cinemas, public parks, playgrounds and so-called cultural shows. These indecent trends and shameless activities in the grab of ethos have resulted in licentiousness and sexual anarchy doubled by cable television and internet pornography to the extent hitherto unknown in Kashmir.

Veil for All Muslim Women:
According to verse (33:59) this is for all Muslim women (working as well non-working) when going forth for needful purposes they were asked to cover themselves with large wrappers/outer garments (loose burqa with which the women cover themselves from head to foot when they go abroad) Jilbab: is an outer garment; a long gown envelops the whole body but also hide ups and downs of the body. The object was not to restrict the liberty of women, but to protect them from harm and molestation on the one hand to guard the spiritual good of stronger sex on the other.

Concession in Dress Code:
All the commandments in this regard are meant for the young women. They become applicable as soon as a woman attains maturity, and remains in force for her until she looses all sexual attraction, at this age the severity of the commandments is also relaxed. Allah Almighty Says:

“There is no harm if the woman who have no hope of marriage lay aside their over garments, provided that they do not mean to display their decoration but if they abstain from this it is better for them.” (24:60)

Woman who have no chance of exciting man and have lost sexual attraction, woman of extreme old age are permitted to relax themselves the proper rules of dress provided there is no wanton exhibition of their womanhood. Islam does not differentiate between women as for as their dress code is concerned it prescribes complete veil for all Muslim women who believes in Allah, His Rasul (SAAS) and the Day of judgment, there is no concession for any Muslim woman on the basis of her profession, work or other kind of engagement.
Women has been prohibited to display her fineries before the men, so much so that she is not allowed even to thump the ground while walking, lest her hidden decoration should be revealed by its jingle, and thus attract attention. The aim is clear that is, if women are allowed to appear in tight and thin clothes with full make-up before men who neither lake sexual desires, nor are immune from sexual urges because of permanent unlawfulness, the consequences warranted by human nature will inevitably follow. It can not, however, be claimed that such a display of fineries shall turn every woman into a prostitute not that every man shall become an adulterer, but, at the same time no body can deny that if women go about in full make-up with tight dress and mix freely with men, it is likely to result in countless open and secret moral disadvantages for the whole society. That is why Islam insists upon segregation of the sexes and bans altogether not only the mixed functions, festivals and parties but also bans lewd literature lewd pictures and lewd cinemas. Rasul Allah (SAAS) said:

“A woman who freely mixes with the other people and shows of her decoration is without light and virtue.” (Al-Tirmidh)

Covering the Face:
The above mentioned verse (33:59) especially enjoins the covering of the face, this may be done either by drawing a part of the outer garment in front of the face or by a veil, or in some other way.
According to Ibn Masud, Ibrahim Nakhi and Hasan Basri, the external decoration implies those garments which the women puts on to cover the internal decoration, for instance the over garment or the veil.
The outer garments with which one hides one’s decoration will remain uncovered. Similarly, once stature, physical build and figure can not be hidden. Then sometimes one may have to uncover one’s hand or a part of one’s face for a genuine need. This is not prohibited, for it is not done with the desire to showing off.
According to Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, ‘Ata, Ibn Umar, it means the face and the hands including the articles meant for their decoration, for instance, henna and rings etc.
Hadrat Ayisha opines that the face should be covered and holds that the external decoration implies the hand, bangles and rings etc.
Miswar Ibn Makhramah and Qatadah allow the uncovering of the hands alongwith their decoration, but it appears that they only favour the uncovering of the eyes and not the whole face.

“Allah has enjoined on the Muslim women that when they got out of their houses under some necessity, they should cover their faces by drawing a part of their outer garments over their heads.” (Ibn Jarir).
“This verse (33:59) shows that the young woman while going out of the house should hide her face from the other people.” (Abu Bakr al-Jasas)
“To draw their outer garments, close round them means that they should draw apart of their outer garments in front of their face and cover themselves with the rest of it....” (Qadi Baidawi)

From the Qur’anic verses (24:31) (33:59) and traditions mentioned above we came to know that after the revelation of these verses, Muslim women of that period had started wearing the veil, and the practice of moving about with the uncovered face had been discarded.
A sane person who considers carefully the verses of the Qur’an regarding women dress, their well-known and generally accepted meaning and practice during the time of Muhammad Rasul Allah (SAAS), cannot dare deny the fact that the Islamic Sharia’h enjoins upon the woman to hide her whole body including face from the men and this has been the practice of the Muslim women ever since the time of Muhammad Rasul Allah (SAAS) himself. Though the exact shape of the veil has not been specified in the Qur’an, it is Quranic in spirit. Two primary objectives of veil are:
1. Enveloping the body from head to foot with a cloth
2. Enveloping it in a way it hides ups and downs of the body
The Muslim women living at the time of Muhammad Rasul Allah (SAAS) to whom these verses were revealed had made it a regular part of their dress outside the house, and even at that time it was called Niqab the veil.
According to Hadith, the dress which shows the body and reveals the private parts is no dress at all, Rasul Allah (SAAS) said:

“Those women who remain naked even after wearing clothes (thin and tight clothes) allure others and are allured by others, and walk coquettishly with the head turned to one side, will enter paradise nor even gets its scent”. (Muslim)

It is stupid to say the veil is not obligatory and it is purity of heart which matters! No doubt purity of heart is essential, but, the question here is that, when Allah and His Rasul Allah (SAAS) has made it obligatory for Muslim woman to cover herself from head to foot how dare Muslim woman can disobey the commands of Allah and his Rasul (SAAS) Allay says:

“.... And whosoever disobeys Allah and His Rasul (SAAS), for them is Hell-fire, abiding there for ever”. (72:23)

It is faith of every Muslim man and woman that, wives and daughter of Rasul Allah (SAAS) were pious and virtuous women, but why did they were asked to cover their bodies? Did they lacked purity of heart? (Na ‘wuzbillah) and if we accept this stupidity on part of some women for a movement that, those who have purity of heart need not to wear veils, question arises here is, what about the hearts of men whom they are alluring by their thin and tight clothes, naked heads and ups and downs of their bodies? As mentioned earlier veil is not for the protection of woman alone but to guard the spiritual good of men also.

Singing and Dancing:

...... “if you are Godfearing, do not talk in a soft voice, lest the man of the unhealthy heart should cherish false hopes from you. If you have to speak (to men), speak in an unaffected way.” (33:32)

........ “and they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments.” (24:31)

The very sound of female voice is sometimes sufficient to excite passion in men, and he is, in many instances, sexually attached through the sense of hearing. We may attach considerable importance to the voice and the music generally as a method of sexual appeal. Ellis writes:

“Sexual stimulation through the ears is greater than is usually believed. The sound of the voice,, it timbre and vigour, its height or depth, its purity or sharpness often determine with unnecessary rapidity, love at first sight” … (Havelock Ellis, Psychology of Sex)

Muslim woman is not allowed tinkling of the ornaments of her feet lest it may tempt the opposite sex. This is to rule out any stimulation wherever it comes from.

Conclusion:
Islam has given such a correct and rational interpretation of the sense of modesty in respect of covering the private parts of man’s body as has no parallel in any civilization. For instance, the men and women of the most civilized nations in the world today do not feel any hesitation to uncover any part of their bodies. For them the dress is a means of decoration and not of covering one’s nakedness. But from the Islamic point of view, covering of the private part is more important than mere decoration. Islam enjoins upon its followers, both male and female, to cover all those parts of their bodies which have attraction for the opposite sex. That is why nudity is an indecency which can never be tolerated by the Islam. The beloved prophet (SAAS) said.
“When you do not have Haya, you may do whatever you please” For when a person does not have the deterrent of Haya in him, his desires which spring from his animal instincts will lay complete hold of him and he will not hesitate to indulge in any sin”

All the disputes regarding the veil spring from the hypocrisy. As for the hypocrites, they are the meanest and most wretched of all Allah’s creation. They tried their best to prove that the present form of veil was a custom of the pre-Islamic communities, and that Muslim adopted this ‘custom of Ignorance’ long after the time of Muhammad Rasul Allah (SAAS). But a person who considers carefully the verses particularly (24:31) (33:59) (33:33), their well-known and unanimously accepted meaning and the practice during the time of Muhammad Rasul Allah (SAAS), cannot dare deny that fact that, the Islamic Sharia’h enjoins upon the Muslim woman to hide her body from head to foot from the other people, and this has been the practice of the Muslim women ever since the time of Muhammad (SAAS). The Muslim women living at the time of Rasul Allah (SAAS) had made it a regular part of their dress outside their house.

Some unlawful acts for Muslim woman:
1. It is unlawful for a Muslim woman to step out from her house without a veil.
2. When a Muslim woman wants to go out, it is not lawful for her to use perfume.
3. Singing and dancing before men and in television and radio programmes is strictly unlawful for Muslim woman.
4. It is unlawful for a Muslim woman to take part in any kind of sport outside her house particularly where spectators are men, sometimes government in Muslim countries prohibits men from watching women sports and stop their entrance to stadium, but at the same time by telecasting these women sports makes mockery of this prohibition. Thus, it is not lawful for a Muslim woman to participate in sports tournaments and nor it is permissible for her to visit other States/Countries for this participation.
5. It is unlawful for a Muslim woman to watch movies and stage and television dramas.
6. It is unlawful for a Muslim woman to play role in stage, radio and television dramas and movies in any capacity.
7. To shake hands with men even with cousins is unlawful, Muslim woman can shake hands only with her muharram relatives.
8. To consult doctor priority for Muslim woman should be:
a). Female Muslim doctor,
b). Female non-Muslim doctor.
c). Male Muslim doctor.
d). Male Non-Muslim doctor.

(Syeda Aasiyah Andrabi is chief Dukhatran-e-Millat. She can be mailed at dukhtran@rediffmail.com

Lastupdate on : Thu, 16 Feb 2006 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 16 Feb 2006 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 17 Feb 2006 00:00:00 IST